The Seven Weeks War and its Effects
Germany, a country hundreds of years in the making, was unified in 1871. After years of being separate states and loose confederations, Germany became a whole, unified nation through Prussian strength in the economy and more importantly strength in the military. The might of the Prussia's military was in its army, which it used in wars to bring together the separate German states into a unified Germany. The Seven Weeks War against Austria was the first example of this. When Prussia won that war, the Northern German Confederation was formed with Prussia at the head and Austria not included, thus creating the first unified Germany, even if not completely, and changing war and politics of Europe forever.
In 1818 Prussia established the Zollverein, a free trade agreement between German states. Quickly many other states joined the Zollverein, including twenty-five of the northern German states. As a result of the Zollverein, common customs were adopted, internal boarders abolished, and a common currency and weights system were used. The internal customs duties were replaced by a single tariff charge at the Prussian State frontier, and a customs union was established with Prussia at the head. The Zollverein opened up the many different independent German states to each other, making them economically dependent on each other and Prussia. One reason Germany was unified under Prussia was partially because of the economic power and control granted it through the Zollverein.
In 1863 the Danish king tried to annex Schleswig, which has been a duchy of Denmark along with Holstein for some time. Since the Danish king was duke of Schleswig he was not supposed to annex it. As a result of his actions...
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...giving a general background to find more books from.
Schirp, Francis M. Ph.D. Short History of Germany. St Louis: B. Herder, 1915- this book, although before 1955, gave the movements of armies and information on the armies and fighting that surpassing that of the later books.
Stern, Fritz Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichroder, and the Building of the German Empire. New York: Knopf, 1977- this book about Bismarck supplied background, and helped in my understanding of the workings of the unification, from money, to some of Bismarck's thoughts, and the working of the Prussian government.
"The Road to National Unification" 1 March 1997: n pag. Online. Internet. 26 Jan 2000. Available www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/churchillhs/sslwpimants/unification.html -- this site gave the best information on what was going on in the world outside of Germany that related Germany.
In the 17th century, before the Seven Years’ War, the common soldier was just an unpaid citizen who fought for the local militia with his own weapon, but the Seven Years’ War totally changed in military system. The Seven Years’ War was very significant because it forced all of the European countries to focus less on commerce and more territory. This new shift in focus is what caused Britain to send so many more troops to America; the British politicians believed it was vital to militarize their colonies like America, West Africa, and Asia. This is because they believed that soldiers could acquire and defend new territories, as well as build important structures as a cheap
Berghahn Books. 2000 Germany and the Germans. After the Unification of the. New Revised Edition. John Ardagh.
Hagen W (2012). ‘German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation’. Published by Cambridge University Press (13 Feb 2012)
The first war was a bit 'weird´ as Bismarck´s goal was to get Austria out of Germany but it was the start of a long plan, he teamed up with Austria and together they quickly defeated the Danish. The duchies of Holstein were to be controlled by Austria and the duchies of Schleswig were to be controlled by Prussia. This was to be a major decision to let Austria control Holstein. Bismarck overcame the barrier that was the threat of Austria. Bismarck was very clever in the way that he provoked war with Austria he complained that Austria was not running Holstein properly.
Benz, Wolfgang, A Concise History of the Third Reich (University of California Press, California; 2007)
... US and the British zones joined to become the Bizonia, shortly after, Bizonia and the French quarter launch a common currency, the Deutsche Mark. On the other hand, the soviet side of Germany had communist influences and was the complete opposite from the other parts, that’s the reason of the 1948 Berlin Blockade. Later on, the rising of the Berlin Wall in 1961 was an anti-fascist barrier, as they thought the west hadn’t been completely de-nazified. Nevertheless, ever since the demolition of the wall Germany has become one of the global powers and an example of stability and organization.
Germany experienced a lot of economic changes after Germany was split into East Germany and West Germany. Initially, West Germany was established as a federal republic but was established as it’s own independent nation in 1955. Many events happened in West Germany from the 1950s to the 1980s before Germany became one nation again. There were events such as “oils price shocks, generous social programs, rising deficits and loss of control.” East Germany’s economy was strong due to the Soviet Union’s reliance on Eastern Germany’s production of machine tools, chemicals and electronics. It became appealing to reunite with West Germany when the value of East Germany’s currency became “worthless” outside of it’s country because Eastern Germany was relying on the Soviet Union’s demand (Marketline).
Berghahn, Volker R.. Germany and the approach of war in 1914. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973.
Spielvogel, Jackson. Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History. 6th ed. United Kingdom: Pearson, 2009. Print.
Leick, Romain, Matthias Schreiber and Hans-Ulrich Stoldt. "Out of the Ashes: A New Look at Germany's Postwar Reconstruction.". 2010. 20 March 2014.
- Jarman, T. L. The Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany. New York: New York University
This consolidation process, called mediation, led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and brought the same French legal codes, measurements, and weights to most German-speaking areas, thus helping to modernize them. In 1806 Napoleon defeated the last independent and defiant German state, Prussia. The Prussians, quite naturally, were concerned about their defeat and started a thorough reform and modernization of the state and army (they "reinvented government"). Reformed Prussia became the hope of many other Germans who started to suffer increasingly under French occupation (which turned more repressive and exploitative) and their often forced cooperation with France.
Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
Manson, K J. Second Edition, Republic to Reich: A History of Germany 1918-1945, McGraw Hill 2003
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. Kitchen, Martin. A History of Modern Germany: 1800-2000. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Sprout, Otto.